Cumulative personal guaranteed jackpot for gaming

Abstract

A gaming reward system is described that guarantees a jackpot to a game player. The jackpot is cumulative and based upon the amount paid in by the player over time to play the game. Each time the player plays, the system adds a small amount of the player's wager to the player's jackpot. Over time, the jackpot grows larger. At some point, a triggering event occurs, and the player is awarded the cumulative, guaranteed jackpot. The jackpot is cumulative in the sense that its amount is increased with each play by the player and guaranteed in the sense that the system works to make sure only the specific player who fills the jackpot can win the jackpot.

We claim: 
     
       1. A computer-implemented method to handle one or more plays in the context of a game associated with a player, the method comprising:
 identifying the player playing the game; 
 establishing a game session that begins as the player starts playing the game at a current location on a current game machine and ends as the player indicates the game session is over; 
 receiving a wager for a current turn from the player, wherein the wager represents the player's estimation of the player's likelihood of success during the current turn; 
 allocating a first amount from the received wager to operator profit, and a second amount to a player cumulative guaranteed personal jackpot; 
 incrementing the player cumulative guaranteed personal jackpot based on the second amount allocated to the player cumulative guaranteed personal jackpot; 
 detecting that a triggering event has occurred, wherein the triggering event ensures the player to win at regular predefined intervals and wherein the player is certain to get a minimum reward for achieving a specific goal, wherein achieving the goal is guaranteed in an average time and challenges the player to get the reward; and 
 as a result of detecting that the triggering event has occurred, awarding the cumulative guaranteed personal jackpot to the player in a manner that only the player who fills the player cumulative guaranteed personal jackpot can trigger the player cumulative guaranteed personal jackpot, 
 wherein the preceding steps are performed by at least one processor. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1  wherein identifying the player comprises receiving login information that identifies the player and allows the system to access an associated player profile with information stored about the player across multiple game sessions. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1  wherein identifying the player comprises detecting that the player swiped a game playing card at a game machine. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1  wherein identifying the player comprises receiving biometric information that identifies the player. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1  wherein establishing the game session comprises ending the game session after the player logs off the game machine. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1  wherein receiving the wager comprises automatically deducting the wager from an account associated with the player. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1  wherein receiving the wager comprises calculating and tracking an average wager amount for multiple turns during the game session. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1  wherein allocating the amount from the received wager comprises setting the player cumulative guaranteed personal jackpot to an amount that provides an encouragement to the player to continue playing the current session. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 1  wherein incrementing the player cumulative guaranteed personal jackpot comprises accumulating the player cumulative guaranteed personal jackpot until one or more conditions for the player cumulative guaranteed personal jackpot's distribution occurs. 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 1  wherein detecting that a triggering event has occurred comprises detecting passage of a threshold period after which the player is rewarded for continuing to play the game. 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 1  wherein awarding the player cumulative guaranteed personal jackpot comprises crediting an account associated with the player. 
     
     
       12. A computer system for providing a guaranteed progressive jackpot in a game, the system comprising:
 a processor and memory configured to execute software instructions embodied within the following components; 
 a player identity component that identifies a player playing the game; 
 a game session component that manages a particular instance of the player playing the game; 
 a bet receiving component that receives a wager on a particular play of the game from the player; 
 a bet allocating component that divides the received wager into (1) operator profit, (2) a small winning amount for the player, and (3) a jackpot amount; 
 a progressive jackpot component that manages a guaranteed progressive jackpot that is contributed to and won by a single player; 
 a trigger detection component that detects a triggering event for distributing the guaranteed progressive jackpot to the player, wherein the triggering event ensures the player to win at regular predefined intervals and wherein the player is certain to get a minimum reward for achieving a specific goal, wherein achieving the goal is guaranteed in an average time and challenges the player to get the reward; and 
 a jackpot reward component that distributes the guaranteed progressive jackpot to the player. 
 
     
     
       13. The system of  claim 12  wherein the player identity component maintains a stored user profile for each player to track each player's progress across multiple game sessions and multiple devices. 
     
     
       14. The system of  claim 12  wherein the game session component defines a game session as a particular location, machine, and period during which the player is playing the game. 
     
     
       15. The system of  claim 12  wherein the bet receiving component receives a wager for each of multiple plays associated with each of multiple goals of the game. 
     
     
       16. The system of  claim 12  wherein the bet allocating component allocates as operator profit an amount of money that an operator of the game receives for offering the game to players, and as the guaranteed progressive jackpot an amount won by a single player during the game session. 
     
     
       17. The system of  claim 12  wherein the progressive jackpot component is designed so that a player will win at least once and potentially multiple times during a particular game session. 
     
     
       18. The system of  claim 12  wherein the trigger detection component defines as a trigger at least one of: passage of time, progress toward sub-goals in the game, lack of wins over a period, and detection of player disinterest. 
     
     
       19. The system of  claim 12  wherein the jackpot reward component renders a software-based animation to signal the player that the guaranteed progressive jackpot has been won.